Australia has passed regulations that will enable more international students to further their education in the country.
The new measures were released by the Australian Department of Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations in September and will take effect in mid-2012.
As a result, the student visa application process for overseas students has been simplified, and the deposit (押金) required to study in Australia has been reduced. Language requirements for overseas students have also been eased.
Also, overseas students receiving a higher education in Australia will be granted a working visa lasting from two to four years after graduation, as long as they meet the basic IELTS requirement.
"This change will definitely make Australia a more attractive destination for Chinese students planning to study overseas," says Wang Lan, a consultant from Education International Cooperation Group (EIC), a Beijing-based company that provides services to students wishing to study overseas.
However, in the past few years, many of Wang's student clients (客户) could not start studies in Australia because they did not meet the language requirements, visa processing took a long time and deposit regulations were tough. The change in policy is good news for the parents of students wishing to study in Australia, Wang says.
A 22-year-old female student surnamed Li, in Beijing, who is planning to do her postgraduate studies in Australia, learned about the policy change several weeks ago.
"According to the previous deposit requirement for my student visa, my family was required to put down 550,000 yuan ($86,850). Now we only need to prepare 410,000 yuan. This is a relief for my parents," Li says.
She also says that the two to four years working visa makes her feel much clearer about her study plans.
"I believe several years of working experience abroad will strengthen my competitiveness when I return to China," she says.
Gaining a competitive advantage is the major reason for Chinese students to study abroad, according to the report by EIC.What's the main idea of the passage?
| A．Language requirement for overseas students have been eased in Australia. |
| B．Australia is a most attractive place for students in China. |
| C．Australia widens window of opportunity for international students. |
| D．More students will work in Australia after their graduation. |
Which of the following is NOT the content of the new regulations?
| A．The student visa application process for overseas students has been simplified. |
| B．The deposit required to study in Australia has been reduced. |
| C．Language requirements for overseas students have been more difficult. |
| D．After graduation, some overseas students can get a working visa in Australia. |
After the new regulations are passed, _______ .
| A．more students will come to Australia to work |
| B．more Chinese students will choose to live in Australia. |
| C．the opportunities to work in Australia decrease for overseas students |
| D．more Chinese students will choose to further their education in Australia |
How much can Li's parents save according to the new regulations?
| A．550,000 yuan | B．140,000 yuan | C．410,000 yuan | D．86,850 yuan |
Why do many students want to work in Australia after their graduation?
| A．The working experience abroad will strengthen their competitiveness. |
| B．They can earn more money in Australia. |
| C．Their working experience can make them stay in Australia forever. |
| D．They have to do so according to the new regulations. |
Researchers recently found that hackers took control of 300,000 home routers(路由器). Once your home router has been controlled, hackers could redirect your network to malicious websites controlled by hi-tech thieves who could then steal your online back details and other sensitive data. However, there are some simple steps you can take to protect your router.
Say no to 12345 passwords
First, never leave your router open without a password and make sure you change both your Wi-Fi and router login password from the default one it comes with. If you use the default password , this could give someone access to the router setup, which could allow them to change your router settings, including viewing any security keys.
Don't broadcast it
Make sure you don't show up in other people's wireless network scans. Know your network name so you can easily enter it into any devices you want to access that network. Other people do not need to know your network name. To prevent outsiders from seeing your network's name and attempting to join your wireless network, turn off broadcasting in your router's settings.
Invite only please
One way you can ensure no one else joins your network without your permission is to enable your router to only allow certain devices to connect, and ban all others. To do that you can filter by media access control (MAC) addresses.
Turn it off
This is a simple piece of advice that can go a very long way in keeping you safe. Simply turn off your router when you're not using your network. If you're at work all day and no one's home, why keep it running?
Build a firewall
The firewall built into your router prevents hackers on the internet from getting access to your PC so it's always worth enabling it to help add an extra layer of security. However, it does nothing to stop people in range of your Wi-Fi signal from getting onto your network – and as said, a router in the wrong place means your Wi-Fi signal could reach pretty far.
For further protection, you should run software firewalls on the individual PCs on your networks. If you use the default password, ______________.
| A．your home router will be linked to some bad websites. |
| B．you will find it’s very convenient to surf the Internet |
| C．your home router will be changed for new settings. |
| D．you will fail to use your own login password |
What should be done to shelter your wireless network?
| A．To build a firewall into your router. |
| B．To think out a complicated login password and use it. |
| C．To shut off your router when you find it not safe. |
| D．To switch off broadcasting in your router settings |
The purpose of the passage is to tell____________.
| A．how to keep your Wi-Fi network secure |
| B．how to deal with your home router efficiently |
| C．how to locate the hackers on the Internet |
| D．how to prevent others from joining your network. |
I never knew how amazing it would feel to help a family 4,560 miles away from my home. I never knew how great an effect I could have on that single family.
From the moment I walked into French class, I knew almost instantly that I belonged there. My teacher, Madame Weiser, is a kind and caring woman, and is the person who started the interest within me to help a family abroad, no matter how many miles apart.
Back in 2011, my teacher traveled as a tourist to Maxi, a country settled in West Africa with a large French-speaking population. She didn’t expect to adopt an entire family, but fate had other plans. Madame met a nice man named Monsieur Diarra, a driver who had shown her the way through the dry lands of Mali.
Mali is now a war-torn country and unsafe for tourists to visit, leaving little work for taxi drivers. Madame Weiser realized how Monsieur Driarra’s family struggled on a daily basis, for he had a wife and four children to support as well as their grandmother, so she made a final decision to send the family as much money as she could raise every month.
Now, three years later, Madame Weiser has still kept up her fund, collecting money from family and friends as well as students to support the cause. It has become more than just my teacher donating to her adopted family abroad.
As president of French Club at my high school and a French Honor Society member, I decided that our club should work to raise money for the family in need. By washing cars, we raised over $1,000.
From my experience, I’ve learned that making an effort is worth more than anything. Its effect is priceless! Why do taxi drivers have difficulty finding work in Mali?
| A．People don’t like taking a taxi. |
| B．Tourists visiting Mali are few. |
| C．Mali is very unsafe for them. |
| D．Public transport is enough. |
What does the underlined expression “the cause” refer to?
| A．Teaching Trench in West Africa. |
| B．Looking for jobs for the drivers in Mali. |
| C．Helping the homeless as much as possible. |
| D．Donating money to the adopted family abroad. |
What did the writer think of her experience?
| A．Boring | B．Puzzling |
| C．Satisfying. | D．Relaxing. |
What is the best title of this passage?
| A．The Love for Africa. | B． A Kind Foreign Driver. |
| C．My Helpful Teacher | D．My Unforgettable Class |
People are being tricked into Facebook with the promise of a fun, free service without realizing they’re paying for it by giving up loads of personal information.
Most Facebook users don’t realize this is happening. Even if they know what the company is up to, they still have no idea what they’re paying for Facebook because people don’t really know what their personal data is worth.
The biggest problem, however, is that the company keeps changing the rules . That was the great thing about Facebook. You could create your own little private network. Last year, the company changed its privacy rules so that many things: your city, your photo, your friends’ names ,were set by default (默认)to be shared with everyone on the Internet.
According to Facebook’s vice-president Elliot Schrage, the company is simply making changes to improve its service, and if people don’t share information, they have a “less satisfying experience”.
Some critics think this is more about Facebook looking to make more money. In original business model, which involved selling ads and putting them. At the side of the pages totally, who wants to look at ads when they’re online connecting with their friends?
The privacy issue has already landed Facebook in hot water in Washington. In April, Senator Charles Schumer called on Facebook to change its privacy policy. He also urged the Federal Trade Commission to set guidelines for social networking sites. “I think the senator rightly communicated that we had not been clear about what the new products were and how people could choose to use them or not to use them,” Schrage admits.
I suspect that whatever Facebook has done so far to invade our privacy, it’s only the beginning, which is why I’m considering canceling my account. Facebook is a handy site, but I’m upset by the idea that my information is in the hands of people I don’t know. That’s too high a price to pay. What do we learn about Facebook from the first paragraph?
| A．It provides loads of information to its users. |
| B．It earns money by putting on advertisements. |
| C．It is a website that sends messages to users who want to get married. |
| D．It makes money by selling its users’ personal data. |
What does the author say about most Facebook users?
| A．They don’t know their personal data enriches Facebook. |
| B．They are unwilling to give up their personal information. |
| C．They don’t identify themselves when using the website. |
| D．They care very little about their personal information. |
Why does Facebook make changes to its rules according to Elliot Schrage?
| A．To obey the Federal guidelines. |
| B．To expand its business. |
| C．To improve its users’ connection |
| D．To provide better service to its users |
Why does the author plan to cancel his Facebook account?
| A．He is dissatisfied with its present service. |
| B．He finds many of its users untrustworthy. |
| C．He doesn’t want his personal data badly used. |
| D．He is upset by its frequent rule changes. |
For history fans, Margaret Thatcher is one of the most interesting of the British Prime Ministers. She is praised by both British and American conservatives for her firm principles and accomplishments of her term.
Being so popular, it is only appropriate that a solid movie be made to detail the life of the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The film Iron Lady focuses on Thatcher (Meryl Streep) and her dementia（痴呆症）, with certain items in her house reminding her of periods of her life, which then start series of flashbacks. Thatcher also fantasies of her husband, Denis (Jim Broadbent), and holds conversations with him throughout the film.
In a world controlled by men and where women are thought to belong to the kitchen, Thatcher struggles to break through the barriers of sex to win a seat in Parliament（国会）. Not only does she struggle with her sex, but being the daughter of a simple shopkeeper, she struggles with class barriers.
After winning a seat in Parliament in 1959, Thatcher was appointed Secretary of State for Education and Science(SES). The film details how the leadership of her party didn’t take her or her opinions seriously. Thatcher became tired of being unheard and decided to challenge the leadership of the party and run for Leader of the Opposition. Not expecting to win the position, she took off in popularity, continuing a strong campaign even after her manager was killed by the Irish Republican Army.
Thatcher, after the conservative party won a majority in Parliament, became the first woman Prime Minister of the UK. She took off in popularity until an economic decline hit the country. She regained popularity after the Falklands War.
The film, in many cases, shows archive footage（资料片）to convey the historic timeline of the movie. The film does an excellent job in recording the complex life of one of Britain’s most complex women. It examines the price that Lady Thatcher paid for power, the class and sex struggles she overcame, and the burden of dementia. The film strikes an astonishingly dear portrait of the “Iron Lady” and will be sure to stand the test of time.According to the passage, the film Iron Lady is mainly about__________.
| A．Margaret Thatcher and her dementia |
| B．Thatcher’s principles and achievements |
| C．the British Prime Ministers’ interests |
| D．Margaret Thatcher and her husband |
When Thatcher worked as Secretary of SES, _________.
| A．her party took her and her opinions seriously |
| B．she tried hard to break through the barriers of sex |
| C．she struggled to break through the class barriers |
| D．she wasn’t respected by the leaders of her party |
This passage is possibly a(n) ___________.
| A．autobiography | B．political report |
| C．film review | D．life story |
What is the author’s attitude towards the film Iron Lady?
| A．Negative | B．Positive | C． Disapproving | D．Casual |
More than 2 million US teenagers have suffered a serious bout（发作) of depression in the past year, according to a federal government survey released on Tuesday.
On average, 8.5 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 described having had a major depressive episode in the previous year, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported.
But there were "striking differences" by sex, with 12.7 percent of girls and 4.6 percent of boys affected.
Depression is the leading cause of suicide, which in turn is the third-leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds in the United States.
"The data Combined 2004 to 2006 data showed that rates of past year major depressive experience among youths aged 12 to 17 generally increased with increasing age," the researchers wrote.
Researchers at SAMHSA and RTI International in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, prepared the report using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
More than 67,700 youths aged 12 to 17 answered questions about mood and depression. They were also asked to rate how depression affected them using the Sheehan Disability Scale(残疾量表), which measures impact on family, friends, chores at home, work and school.
Researchers defined a major depressive episode as two weeks or longer of depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure, and at least four other symptoms such as problems with sleep, energy, concentration or self-image.
Nearly half of the teenagers who had major depression said it severely damaged their ability to function in at least one of the areas on the disability scale.
"Fortunately, depression responds very well to early intervention and treatment," SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline said in a statement. The underlined word “ episode ” in paragraph 2 probably means _________.
| A．experiment | B．experience |
| C．expression | D．feeling |
What can be implied, but is not stated directly?
| A．depression is the third-leading cause of suicide. |
| B．There were over 2 million American teens suffering depression in the past two years. |
| C．The students surveyed were aged between 12 and 17. |
| D．There were more girl students suffering depression than boys. |
The main symptoms of a serious depressive episode include ________ .
| A．no family or friends or jobs or interests at all. |
| B．low spirits, lack of sleep, energy and self-image, and poor concentration. |
| C．poor health, sex discrimination, less energy and loss of interests |
| D．suicide, sadness, lack of confidence and depression. |
What will the following paragraph probably talk about according to the passage ?b
| A．How to recover from stress |
| B．How to have a happy feeling |
| C．How to prevent and treat depression |
| D．How to live a comfortable life |